HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?

 HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?

Jon Gary Williams

        A question often related to the topic of evolution is the age of the earth. Evolutionists admit that for evolution to have occurred there had to be lots of time, extremely long, long periods of time. Since this is a fundamental requirement of the theory, evolutionists stretch the age of the earth back just as far as they can. On the other hand, the Bible, though giving no exact date of creation, limits the time to thousands instead of millions of years.
        When the Biblical view is proposed people often show surprise and even scoff at the idea that the earth may be relatively young. But why? It is because they have been conditioned to think in terms of an old earth philosophy and have never considered anything else. Many are amazed to learn there is scientific evidence pointing to a young earth. Note these examples.
        1. Human Population —Using the standard population growth rate and applying it to the general time evolutionists claim man first appeared on earth (two million years ago), the projected population at present would be about 10⁵⁰⁰⁰. [see footnote below] However, estimates indicate that all known space could only hold 10¹⁰⁰. That’s 10⁴⁹⁰⁰ people left over even after all known space is filled! This alone shows that an extremely old earth is not worthy of serious consideration. On the other hand, applying the same growth rate back to 2500 B.C. (or the approximate time of the flood, when man’s history began anew) the population of the earth should be about 6.5 billion. Remarkable isn’t it.
        2. The Earth’s Magnetic Field —Dr. T. G. Barnes, well known for his unique research in this area, has shown that at the known decay rate of the earth’s magnetic field it will be depleted by about 3900 A.D. Using this data and extrapolating back into the past, he has calculated that a maximum age for the earth would be no more than 10,000 years.
        3. Shrinkage of The Sun —The sun is gradually burning up and science can measure its decreasing diameter. At the present rate it is calculated that just 100,000 years ago the sun would have been twice its present size. At that size it would have been so hot that the earth would burn up! Further calculations reveal that only 20 million years ago the sun would have been the size of the earth’s orbit around it. And 500 million years ago, it would have been so large that the entire solar system could fit inside it! But remember, evolutionists claim the sun is several billion years old. So, something is wrong with the evolutionary timetable —something is drastically wrong! According to this data the earth could not be very old.
        4. Hydrogen in The Universe —The amount of hydrogen in the universe is decreasing at a steady rate. It is constantly disappearing and is not being replenished in any significant amounts. Now, if the universe is billions of years old the question is: “Why is there so much hydrogen?” The amount of hydrogen should be greatly reduced. In fact, according to the vast age of the universe offered by evolutionists, it should have been depleted long ago. Since it is known that the universe has an abundance of hydrogen this would indicate that the universe (including the earth) is very young. Evolutionists are at loss to explain why there is so much hydrogen in the universe.
        5. Helium in The Earth’s Atmosphere —It is known that helium, the product of disintegrating minerals, is accumulating in the earth’s upper atmosphere. The rate at which this is occurring is measurable. Now if the earth is as old as evolutionists say, based on the known rate that helium is collecting, there should be enormous quantities of it in the atmosphere. However, this is not the case. According to the amount of helium in the atmosphere the earth could be no older than about 10,000 years. If the earth is excessively old —where is the helium? The only explanation offered by evolutionists is that helium must, somehow, be escaping from the earth’s atmosphere. Is there any evidence of this? No. That such a light gas could escape the gravitational pull of the earth is absurd.
        6. Ocean Sediment —Sediment (the collection of minerals, sand and small rock particles) is being continuously deposited on the ocean floors. The rate of this deposition can be calculated. Using this rate of accumulation, an approximate age of the earth can be determined. If the earth is extremely old, the ocean sediment should show evidence of this. However, the ocean floors reveal an average sediment buildup of less than 3000 feet, which projects an age for the earth to be no more than about 10,000 years.
        7. Moon Dust —Dust from space is continually being drawn into the gravitational pull of both the earth and moon. The amount of dust accumulation can be measured. Since the earth has an atmosphere, the dust cannot settle directly because of being washed away by wind and water. On the other hand, the moon has no atmosphere to disturb the dust it accumulates, which means there is a continual buildup. Based on the ancient age of the moon set by evolutionists it has been projected that the moon’s dust should be fifty or more feet deep. This is why the early lunar landing modules had wide “feet” or “pods” —so they would not sink down. However, what a surprise it was to find a layer of dust only an inch or so deep. Indeed, this means the moon is very young. And since all agree that the moon and earth are the same age this means the earth is also very young.
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